Close to You
by DiNozzo and Gibbs addict
Summary: When Tony is sent undercover to get to know their suspects daughter, things end up taking an unexpected turn when she works out he's not who he says he is. When she works out that her mom is going to be the next victim of her father, will the team get to her in time? AU but based around season 11, but before Bishop joined the team. *Warning mentions of rape and abuse, not explicit*
1. Chapter 1

**Close to You.**

 **Chapter 1.**

The team had just got back from their latest crime scene and yet again it was looking as though their murderer had struck once again, but they were going to have to wait until they'd got the confirmation from Ducky to find out if it was the case or not. Just as they were all getting settled into going through everything about their victim, Gibbs looked up to see Vance standing watching them from above, as their eyes made contact, Vance gave an indication to him to go up and see him. So with that Gibbs headed for the elevator and went up to see him.

For once as Gibbs enters the office and Vance tells him as he hands him a file to take a seat, he does actually do so. After then looking at the file he says "What is this Leon?"

Vance says "I understand that you have Christian Wakefield as your suspect, but as yet have not got any direct evidence to prove that it's him."

Gibbs replies "We haven't, but I'm sure we'll get there. So why show me this file on his daughter."

Vance says "I want you to consider putting one of your team undercover and find out what she knows or suspects. The two of them don't have a very close relationship and she does live in her own apartment, but she was bought up by the man. Not only that as you can see he only somehow got custody after kidnapping her and bring her here to the US when his marriage broke down in the UK where she was born and bought up until he did it. I've got hold of the police reports and the social services reports from the UK, because throughout the marriage he regularly beat his wife up. She left him in the end taking their daughter with her and went into a refuge when she was released from hospital after he beat her up again and also raped her. After kidnapping his daughter and coming here, she fought for custody but she never won it back. Over the years he also made sure that mother and daughter never saw each other, in the end though she went to continue her education to the UK and ended up living with her mom once again. Since coming back here again she and her fathers relationship has begun to break down even more, so they don't know exactly how much her mom may have told her while she was living there with her. There's a chance that with the case being constantly being in the news she may be getting suspicious about things and may agree to help us, but I'm not sure that she will do it just off her own back."

Gibbs asks him "So what are you saying?"

Vance answers "I would like someone to go undercover and have some kind of relationship with her to find out what exactly she does know."

Gibbs then says "And when you say someone you're actually meaning that you want it to be DiNozzo? I doubt Leon that he will do it as after the Bennoit debacle he vowed he would never go undercover like that ever again and so far has stuck to that vow. I know that it is for our case, but I just can't see him agreeing to it."

Vance replies "That's why if he does do it we will be making things so very different to what it was before. This time round everyone on the team will know about the undercover op and he will have back-up on standby at all times. Not only that we haven't as yet been able to ascertain if Miss Wakefield has a partner or boyfriend, so until we can either find that out or if it ends up being down to DiNozzo to find out and if she does have either then I'm saying that I just expect them to have some kind of just friends relationship, so he won't have to worry about being romantically involved with her even if she is also single. I would at least like to put it to him and then give him a few days to have a think about it. Unlike what Jenny did to him as well, as I came to understand later that she supplied him with the barest minimum of information on Bennoit anyway, all he knew was that she was a student doctor and that her father was an arms dealer who NCIS in general were after, not just Jenny doing it because of her vendetta with La Granouille. All of that file you have there and any other info we can get on her and her family before he goes under will be available to him, as well as anything else that gets picked up as the case continues. I am going to make sure personally that with every step of the way during the op he will know completely everything that is going to be happening and have all that he needs for it."

Gibbs sighs and says "Ok talk to him and see what he says, but if he does say no I don't want to hear of him being pressured into changing his mind and he giving in to end up doing it."

Vance replies "I promise you Gibbs that I won't do that, if he says no, no will mean no."

When the call came in to his desk Tony had only just got back to it again following having gone on a coffee and snack run for himself and McGee, he'd just read a sentence from the file that he'd been looking at just before he'd gone on the run as his desk phone rang. When he heard Vance's voice on the other end asking him to come up and see him he said that he'd be right up, he then got up, had a mouthful of his coffee and steeled himself ready for what the director wanted, even so as he walked round his desk to head upstairs he gave McGee a shrug of his shoulders and headed off upstairs, although as he went up there he did still have a strange feeling of impending doom come over him.

As he walked into the office he was quite surprised that Gibbs was also still there, when he was then given Laura's file before Vance had uttered a word he just knew what was coming up, but before he could say anything Vance said "I know what you're about to say, but please just hear me out. This time things will be different I don't expect you to get romantically involved with this woman unless you feel that it does have to go that way, although as yet we haven't got any intel as to if she has a partner or boyfriend at the moment anyway. You will have full back-up at all times and there will be no secrecy surrounding any of this, you're team will be in full knowledge with what's going on. You will also be kept updated with anything that comes in that you also need to know at all times."

Tony replies "So I can see she's the daughter of our suspect, but how do you think this will help because even if this doesn't end up being like last time, this part could be just like Jeanne and her not knowing anything about her father being an arms dealer until I ended up having to tell her. What happens if this Laura doesn't know anything about her father's extra curricular activities, I don't want to have to hurt someone else by telling them something that they perhaps don't know what their father was actually capable of."

Vance says "We don't know what she knows, all we know is that since she has returned from the UK, the relationship between her and her father has gone down hill even more than it was before. But we do know from things we have got from the UK authorities that her mom got out of the marriage because of the abuse he did to her and when he raped her. So we don't know if there's a chance that her mom may have told her the truth while she was living there. We want to do this to find out what she exactly knows about her father or suspects, because we don't also know if she would ever actually come to us to report anything off her own back. Look give things a couple of days to make a choice about what you want to do about this and I promise you that you will not be pushed into making the choice to do it, if we have to we will find another way in there. Take the file and look through it, if you want anything else that you might think will help you I will make it available to you."

Tony looks down at the file in his lap once again and then says "Ok, I'll have a look into this and think about it, because if this goes badly I'm saying now this will be the very last time I do anything like this." With that he looks to Gibbs who returns a look of agreement to him and with that Vance tells them to get back to the investigation once again.

Just as the two of them start to come back down the stairs again Gibbs cell goes and when he ends the call Tony says "Please don't tell me that we've got another one?"

To which Gibbs answers "I'm afraid so DiNozzo, go grab your gear." He does so and McGee does the same as they then make their way to the crime scene. While they're at the crime scene Tony seems to start just working on everything on autopilot as he goes quiet thinking about their next possible victim in front of them as well as thinking about what the director had asked him to do. Part of him wants to do it so that they can finally put the case to bed and there's also the other side of him that doesn't want to do it because he's afraid that history will repeat itself again and he will end up falling in love with his mark again and he really doesn't know if he could go through that heartbreak again, or even possibly break another woman's heart again. But in a way he knows that he still wants to read about the woman more, if she does either know something or just suspect something about her father, then in a way he'd like to help her find either some courage to get through everything if there is any way in which he could do it. When Ducky and Palmer arrived and Gibbs had asked if he could confirm if it was another victim or not, on his cursory check over the body Ducky said that they were most probably looking at yet another victim, because the initial outward injuries were looking that way and it was also looking like the sexual assault had also happened, but he would have to confirm it all once they were back in autopsy.

When they got back to the Navy Yard again and got everything they could on their latest victim, finding out that his name was Joshua Reynolds he was a former petty officer, but now worked in a base office. He'd got a wife called Diana and also had four year old twin girls. As Gibbs and Tony then headed out to give her the news they were surprised to find that she was pregnant once again with another set of twins. As they told her the news and asked her some gentle questions about his life and things, Tony was quite surprised that Gibbs had left out some of the details they had already found out about him, like the fact that he was bisexual and they had also found out that he had had a couple of affairs during the early days of their marriage and shortly after the birth of the twins with a man. Those men had already been added to the list, especially as one of them was actually their prime suspect. As they returned back to the Navy Yard again Tony once again found his mind wandering to the undercover op, and how he could help bring justice to that family and all of the other family and friends of their victims. But he also started to think about how those two little girls would probably end up in time forgetting about who their father was, because of the age they were. Not only that the twins that his wife was now expecting wouldn't even get to know their father and wouldn't know him at all.

In the end as they worked through the afternoon Tony found that he was starting to unusually for him get a headache as he was trying to work through everything as well as work through the proposal, so in the end he decided on taking a break from it all. He then took out a couple of pills from the ibuprofen that he did keep in his desk just in case he needed something at anytime, before he headed to the break room to take them with some water, he then got himself a coffee and something to eat from the vending machine. As he sat there miles away but somehow mindlessly managing to eat his food and have the coffee, he was so far gone that he never even heard McGee come into the room as well. Because of the way Tony had been so quiet and growing quieter and quieter since their return from the crime scene and also his return from the visit with Gibbs, McGee had started to grow concerned about Tony and what was going through his head. His concern grew even more when he managed to get himself a coffee as well as something from the vending machine without Tony even realising that he was in there with him, he then finally got his attention as he sat down and waved his hand in front of Tony's face. As Tony shook himself out of things he said "Oh, hi Probie."

McGee asked with some concern "What's wrong Tony?"

Tony asked him back "How do you mean?"

McGee answered "Well ever since you came back from Vance's office you seem to be deep in thought and have got quieter the more that things have gone on this afternoon, so what is it?"

Tony let out a big sigh and replied "I'm fine; it's just that Vance wants me to go undercover again to try and get this case sorted once and for all. They want me to get with our suspects daughter to try and find out what she knows or suspects about her father. I've told them that I will think about things, but I don't know if I can honestly do it again, even if they have also said that because they haven't been able to get any intel on whether she has a boyfriend, partner or whatever I don't have to go into this thinking that I have to romance her. I know that there is also going to be some difference in it this time round, like all of you knowing what I'm doing and there being no secrecy in any of it, as well as ensuring that I do have back-up at any time I need it as well. Even though I know that it will help the case and seeing our latest victim and what his wife is going to have to go through, especially with those kids probably not ever remembering who their father is, and those babies she's expecting at the moment they won't even know who their father was. It's just that after before can I put myself through all this again, without me getting hurt in the process or this woman that I'm supposed to be seeing."

McGee says "Tony we all know what you went through with Jeanne, but as you say this time it will be different and you can talk about it. If you do decide to do it and feel that history is repeating itself you can always come and talk, even if we're stuck here at the office you can just call a time out and we'll go somewhere to talk. You're a good man Tony and I know that you don't want to hurt someone else or get yourself hurt, but in the end it could help the case, and who knows? Perhaps this time round you might end up coming out of this in a better position than you were the last time and I don't know end things coming out more amicable between you."

Tony replies "Thanks Tim I will think about it and I promise that I will tell you what I decide on."

Later on that night when they had all got home, Tony got himself a take out and as he ate it he started to look at the file properly that Vance had given him about the woman that they wanted him to go undercover with. As he read about her he realised that perhaps she didn't know exactly what was going on with her father, but did wonder if perhaps she may be suspicious about him instead and he also has a feeling that she was the type of person that would help them with it all and would do whatever she could to help them. The only trouble was that from looking at her picture in the file he knew instantly that she was his kind of woman, so if she was single then he knew that he was probably going to have a lot of trouble in trying not to fall for her, probably even harder than he found things with Jeanne. As with her it had taken time for him to actually fall in love with him because outwardly she most certainly wasn't his type. But in his heart this time round he just wanted everything to be so much different and well if he did fall for her then perhaps they could find a way of continuing a relationship afterwards. In the end though his conscious won out and he decided that perhaps he would do it after all, so with that he got up and headed to Gibbs to tell him that he was going to do it. He was also quite surprised though because Gibbs told him that if at any point he wanted out of the assignment then he only had to say the word. Plus at anytime he wanted to talk about anything then the basement would always be open for him to come and talk.


	2. Chapter 2

**Close to You**

 **Chapter 2.**

As the next few weeks progressed they started to build toward Tony beginning on his way into Laura's life by organising his false ID's as well as his back cover story. In between time Tony also started to get his own research done so that he could gauge how to make his approach to her. Through doing this he soon found out that she was single and guessed that he most probably was going to be ending up getting into trouble with her, but he truly hoped that he wouldn't. Then one night totally by accident while he was out for a drink with a couple of friends, he found that she was also there. He didn't go anywhere near her but did end up watching her from afar especially as he didn't want to blow the op from the very start. But as they left the bar and got back home once again, as he sat thinking about things, yes he did find that in a way she was very attractive, somehow he was thinking that perhaps the friendship route would be the way to go and then he would see how things went from there.

Once they had got everything ready and in place like before he was to continue in his job as usual and meet up with Laura for the first time and whatever happened in the weeks to come that was to continue. For their first meeting they met at a coffee shop near to Georgetown University where she worked as a lecturer, and it was just a quick meeting because of it being just before she was due to start at work. He was also quite surprised when she actually made the first move with a stunning smile before she said a quiet "Hi." Because of the way that she was so at ease with him from straight off he knew that he was right and that friendship was the best route to go and his original feeling from the night he saw her had been right. They then introduced themselves to one another, before they took an empty table and had a talk as they got to know each other. when it came time for her to leave it was then her suggestion that perhaps they might do this and get together once again for breakfast or coffee one morning, as she then handed him a piece of paper with her number of it. As he took it he flashed her a gorgeous smile and said "That would be good." She then returned a gorgeous smile back and replied "Yes it would." Before she then took her leave, leaving Tony in his seat, as he then shook himself out of the reverie he had fallen into he said to himself "Come on Anthony don't go there!" Before he then took his leave and walked out heading to work.

After that in the next couple of weeks or so she and Tony just limited things to just having breakfast and coffee dates before she went to work, and in that time he was finding that he did just love the friendship that they were building together. As she told him about her life and also because of the way she mostly had a British accent as she spoke, with just a slight American lilt to it. She explained that she thought it may be just down to her having spent four/five years in the UK when she was doing her degree, because with being bought up here in DC she spoke with mostly an American accent, but with being half British as well it had gone with the time she had spent over there. As he came away from one of their dates he did start to wonder what had happened while she had been in the UK and what had happened on her return, because as she talked about her time in Oxford with her mom and how much she had really fallen in love with the history of Oxford, as well as how she loved living so close to the city of London too, and the way in which the time with her mom had been so good and had made them close with their relationship once again. Her face had really lit up and he could really see that love in her face, but then as she said about her return and that she did really love the job she doing and that was really the only thing, she just mentioned her father in passing but he very soon saw her shut down in an instant and that love she had in her face soon disappeared and he then really struggled to read what her face and eyes were telling him. This time as he returned to the Navy Yard again he started to ponder things and even though part of him didn't want to do it when Vance had told him about the social services reports they'd been able to get hold of on what had happened to her mom and herself during the marriage to her father, he wondered if he should look at it. Not only that he was also starting to wonder what her father had possibly done to her and if she had somehow not admitted to it at whatever age it was because he had threatened to do more harm to her mom or something.

In the end though he couldn't really find anything out, that was until he found out via one of his old frat brothers who worked in the UK and had got a British wife, who at the time of the case with Laura's mom was just doing her training to be a social worker and had shadowed the social worker that actually worked the case. She explained that they hadn't been able to get anything out of Laura as social workers or through the counselling she was receiving as to how much she saw of that night when he beat her mom so badly and raped her, and then of course they also didn't know if her father had then got her any continuing help following him kidnapping her, which they doubted that he ever did. So it could mean that the way she was could be down to finally breaking free of him so to speak when she was back in the UK again, then seeing him once again on her return could have bought all those bad memories back again and it was just too much for her and her system was just overwhelmed. She advised him to take everything carefully with her, even if it was very important for them to get the information they needed because he could either be lucky and get what they needed out of her or it could go the other way and she would help them but end up completely clamming up on them and he would then end up loosing whatever kind of relationship he'd got with her.

A few weeks later though he got a little bit of an insight into things and also somehow knew that perhaps she would end up helping them get her father. They were in the middle of a weekend duty and had been called out, but he knew that it was going to be ok because she was going to be seeing her father albeit reluctantly and even when she'd said about going to see him she had said that she had got to the point where she really didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore, but really didn't have a clue where to go. As he'd said to her that he would be there for her at anytime she needed to talk about it, so she'd said that she will most probably explain things to him one day. They'd just got back from the crime scene when she'd called him quite upset and he just knew that he had to get to her, they were just talking with him under the stairs and Gibbs had gone to check that he was ok. As Tony ended the call Gibbs couldn't help but smirk at Tony's jump when he said "Is everything Ok DiNozzo?"

Tony just scrubbed his hands over his face and said "I don't have a clue what has happened, but her father has upset her somehow, I think I need to go to her boss."

Gibbs replied "If you think that it will help her on the road to helping us then go and see her, we can excuse you for a while, go."

"Thanks boss." And with that he ran off to be with her.

When he arrived at her apartment, which was also his first visit there seeing as she had told him where she lived a couple of weeks before that. As she answered the door to him he could already see that she had been crying because of the way her eyes were red and she had streaks down her face, so the instant that she let him in and closed the door he took her into a hug and once she'd settled down he went and got her a drink. As she drunk it while he cuddled her into him on the sofa he said "So what did he do, tell me?"

She answered "It just felt like for the whole visit he wasn't really with me and after kicking up such a fuss about me going over there, when all I really wanted to do was pop into work this morning and just catch up on marking some papers. So when I get there he's giving me this lecture about how I should always be there to go to his at his beck and call, then threatening me by saying that he would do exactly the same to me as he did with mom all those years ago or he would do just as used to do to me if I didn't do as he said. Then the next second he's telling me that he's got someone to see here in DC this afternoon so he'd got to cut the visit short. I know I've been told over the years that I shouldn't say it, but you know I really hate that man, he destroyed the relationship I had with my mom and turned me into a scared timid little thing and I just hate it so much. Especially as I have seen so many things in my life that I now know a child just should not have seen, you know Tony he just isn't a very good man. And I hate to say it, but I have some suspicions that he's the man that NCIS are looking for in these murders."

Tony then asked with some concern "What makes you say that?"

"It's just that I can't say what I've actually seen in my life, but let's just say that it's enough to know that he's not straight and I suspect that he's bisexual. Not only that I know that I don't know everything about the victims that have been found and have just read about it in the paper, but things with the bodies are exactly the same as what he did to my mom when he nearly killed her. I'm just hoping to god that another victim won't turn up later today or tomorrow, not only that because of the way that we're supposed to be spending the day together I'm scared that if he did get bought in to answer questions that he will attempt to try and use me somehow for an alibi and try to threaten me into doing it. Even though I know that if I did commit perjury to do it, then I would loose my job and everything else if I have a conviction."

He then says to her as he cups her chin to make her look at him "If I can and I will have to look into a couple of things first I will help you with everything, but let me ask you something first, if need be would you go to NCIS and tell them what you know?"

She answers "Yes I would do Tony because if it is him then I want him to be bought to justice the only thing that I would be scared of is him attempting to come after me to make me not give evidence against him. Look I don't know if it would be allowed or not, but if I could I would really like to be able to help them out."

"How do you mean?"

She answers "Well even though I do teach psychology I do also have my doctorate in forensic psychology, I've never really used it because I couldn't find the right job, but lets just say that if it was possible and he did go and do another murder today and from what I've read in the papers, after each one he seems to disappear before he then does another one. I don't really like the idea of doing it because he is my father, but if I can get a look at the case papers I may be able to get into his head and possibly be able to tell them where he's headed to next and then perhaps be able to save the next victim from being killed."

Tony asks "It could, but do you really feel like you would be able to do it?"

She answers "I think that I probably could, but I also have it in my mind that I should also do this because I do also have it in the back of my mind that eventually I could also end up being a victim myself and I don't want to end up becoming that either."

He says "And I wouldn't want that for you either. Ok let me have a little think about things and I promise that I will get back to you, just let me have a look into things, but don't hesitate to call me if you get worried about anything, and unless you do really have to do it try not to have any contact with him or if the worst comes to the worst just talk to him on the phone and don't let him into your apartment, and from now on I will always call you in advance when I'm going to be coming here. I don't really know if it will help or not, but do you think that you might be able to build something of a profile from what you can get from the papers and things?"

She answers "I might be able to, there might also be a chance that I could talk to my friend Louise as well and she may be able to give me a little bit more than what the actual papers say because she's a journalist and she may be able to give me some extra notes or something like that."

He says "Ok... so you go and have a freshen up and I'll go and sort out another drink for you, then I'll go and see what I can do to make a start with things." She then gets up and just before she heads to the bathroom she bends to give him a light kiss on his cheek as she says with a weak smile "Thanks Tony."

While she's then in the bathroom Tony goes into the kitchen again to sort out the drink and he then takes a chance to quietly call Gibbs he gives him just a quick summary without going into the details of what he and Laura discussed about her building the profile, then at the end of it he says that it might be an idea to talk to Vance about things as well, Gibbs agrees and they end the call saying that he should get back as soon as he can. He then gets on with the drink and by the time he does that it's in time for Laura to walk out of the bathroom looking a lot better than she had done just before she went in there. As they stand looking at one another he says "Are you sure that you'll be ok on your own?"

She answers "I'll be fine and I promise I will call you if anything comes up." And with that he kisses her on the top of her head, then as he walks out the door, he holds it open and peers back round it at her as he says "As soon as I'm gone lock and chain it." "I will do I promise."

Back at the Navy Yard he virtually steps straight into Gibbs who is waiting there for him and says that the director wants to see them both as soon as he gets there, so the two of them head straight to his office. As Tony explains to them what has happened and that if it is possible she is willing to help them by using her forensic psychology to try and profile her father to see if they can track him and see if they can profile his next victim to make an attempt at stopping him. So with that Vance tells him that if he wants to break cover and that he does really think that she would help them, then he would clear it with the university to let her go and he would give her the clearance she would need to be able to work with the team as a psychologist only, not only that he would also give clearance so that Ducky could work alongside her if that is what she wished. So with that just as Tony is about to open his mouth and to say that he would be willing to break his cover as long as it would be possible for him to be able to talk to her first and alone, they get interrupted by his cell ringing. As he sees Laura's name on the display he says "Excuse me I'd better take this." He then disappears out into the outer office to be able to answer the call, as he does so he can hear the panic in Laura's voice as well as the banging and shouting in the background, so he tells her to keep herself safe and he will be right there with her. He then heads back into the office and says "I don't think there's going to be any choice I'm going to have to blow my cover now... that was her and her father is trying to get into her apartment right now."

Vance says "I will come with you, just grab McGee and I will be right behind you."

 **A/N: This story ended up taking a different turn to what I expected, but even so it is still going to end up staying reasonably the same as I had got it planned out! I know I'm also rotten because I've left you on a cliff hanger as well, but I should update soon! xxx. D. :0D**


End file.
